Weekly Wrap Up + Ugly Ducks

Hey Hey!  I haven't posted in a few days, but rest assured that I've been keeping up with my consistent fitness routine.  I got early to walk every morning this week.  I didn't hit my 13,000 step goal every day, but I got at least 10,000 steps every day.  Now, that's not counting the weekend.  I was out of town over the weekend and didn't do quite as well, but I'm still on track.

I also completed a kettlebell workout two days this week.  The first day, I worked my legs hard.  Lots of squats, lunges and single leg deadlifts.  The second day, I worked my upper body with lots of one arm rows, presses and cleans.  I did some ab work both days.

For some reason, the kettlebell felt extra heavy this week.  I still used the 25 pounder, but it felt extremely difficult to lift this week.  Isn't it interesting how the same move can feel so different depending on your mood/week/hormones/life at that particular time?  I admit I don't understand it all yet.

Ugly Ducks

So, the neighborhood that I live in has a community pond.  It's home to a lot of different fish, turtles, ducks, geese, and other wildlife.  But there are these particular ducks that are super friendly, but they are also just really ugly.  Sometimes they'll come right up to me while I'm walking.  They won't even get out of my way.  They just stand there like they own the place.

According to the neighbors, they are Muscovy ducks and they're all females.

How was your week?

Suggestions on Kettlebell moves?

Read more »

Weekly Wrap Up + Another Kettlebell Adventure

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful week and met all your fitness goals.

My goals this week were pretty straightforward -
1. Walk at least 13,000 steps per day on average.  I missed my goal one day, but made up for it on the other days and ended the week at 14,960 steps her day on average.  YES - Exceeded goal!
2. Complete 3 kettlebell workouts.  DONE!


Pretty proud of myself

Once again, I started my day off with a 3+ mile walk.  Unfortunately, the MapMyRun app didn't record my walk.  That basically means it didn't happen.  FAIL!  I hate it when that happens.

But I did complete my 3rd kettlebell workout of the week.  I was pressed for time today so I did the sets at different times throughout the morning.

#	Movement	Reps
1	Two-hand Kettlebell Swing	20
2	Overhead Press	8 left, 8 right
3	Front Squats	10
4	One-arm Rows	12 left, 12 right
5	Kettlebell Rolling Sit-ups	20
6	Kettlebell Situp	20
REPEAT CIRCUIT 5 TIMES

Yep, I was able to do 8 reps on the overhead presses with the 25 lb kettlebell today.  I'll take that progress any day of the week.  Especially on a Friday.

Maybe I deserve a rest day? Or two?  Can I get an amen?!

Now it's your turn - share your fitness accomplishments for this week in the comments.

Favorite kettlebell move?  Do you track your steps?

Read more »

Achieving My Goals + Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Kettlebell Workout

So, I killed it on the step goal today.  I'm a little over 20,000 steps for the day.  I decided to set my alarm a little earlier this morning so that I could make my morning walk a little longer. I ended up putting in 3.5 miles to start the day.

Then on my lunch break I put in another mile around the neighborhood because I was cold and tired and I needed something to warm me up and get my blood pumping.  Maybe I went a little overboard on that considering that it was nearly 100 degrees outside today.  

And tonight after supper, Emily and I walked a little more than a mile. I forgot to map my walk so I'm not sure exactly how far we went.  But my roses sure were pretty today.


I also got in my kettlebell workout this afternoon. I'm kinda into making up my own routine. Have you ever read a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book where you get to choose what happens next in the story? That's kinda what I feel like when I make up my own kettlebell routine.

I was pretty sore from my last kettlebell day so I tried to scale back a little today.

Warm-up then five sets of the following with the 25 pound kettlebell:

#	Movement	Reps
1	Two-hand Kettlebell Swing	20
2	Kettlebell High Pull	16
3	Overhead Press	6 left, 6 right
REPEAT CIRCUIT 5 TIMES

I did the 5 sets over a couple hours.  I'm not sure if it's as effective as doing them all at once, but that's the only way I could fit in a kettlebell workout today.  I probably would not have been able to do 5 sets all at once. Just sayin!

Have you ever used a kettlebell?

What size kettlebell do you use?

Read more »

Nicely Sore + Finally Hit the New Step Goal

Okay so that kettlebell workout yesterday turned out to be a good one.  Did I mention that I intended to do 3 sets of the workout, but could only manage to complete 2 sets?

Today my deltoid muscles are nicely sore.  Deltoid muscles?  Yeah. You know ... those muscles on the back of your shoulder that wraps around the back of your arm?  Am I the only one who Googles the names of my sore muscles?  Hurts so good.  That's all I'm saying.

Tomorrow is another kettlebell day so I need to start Googling a good full body kettlebell workout.  Maybe this one? Or this one looks good. Or what about this pumped up workout?

I also managed to meet my new 13,000 step goal today for the first time.  I started with a 3 mile walk this morning then I had to jump on my exercise trampoline several times during the day to keep on track to reach my goal.  I try to remember to pay attention to the Fitbit feature that tracks how many hours I walk at least 250 steps.  Some days I do better than others.  Today I did pretty well and hit 11 of 14 hours. (I've set 7am to 9pm as my active hours.)

Every little bit helps.  The main thing is to keep putting in work every day.

Do you embrace your sore muscles?  

Have you ever used a foam roller to try to roll out the soreness?

Do you have any suggestions on kettlebell workouts?

Read more »

Happy Monday + Kettlebell Weight Training

Happy Monday!  I don't know about you, but this has been a long Monday for me.

I started out with 3.16 miles outside in the neighborhood.  That got me a little over 7,000 steps toward my new 13,000 daily step goal.  A long walk followed by a nice big fruit bowl for breakfast.  That's what I call a good start to the day.

After a busy day at work, I had to end the day with a sweaty kettlebell workout.

Tonight, I used a 25 pound kettlebell and it is no joke.  I'm not gonna lie - when I use this thing, my arms and legs just shake and I sweat so much.  My shirt is soaked through.  My arms just feel dead.  AND I LOVE IT!  Anybody with me on this?

Yes, I like to do my kettlebell workouts in my bathroom.  Kinda crazy?  I'm a mom - it's one of the few places I can get any privacy!

See the picture below? This is the heart rate monitor on my Fitbit Flex during my kettlebell workout today.  The kettlebell is NO JOKE.  It's hard work.

This was my workout tonight.

Warm-up then two sets of the following:

1. Two-hand Kettlebell Swing - 20 reps
2. Kettlebell Cleans - 10 reps left,  10 reps right
3. Military Presses - 6 reps left, 6 reps right (My goal was 8, I could only do 6)
4. Front Squats - 8 reps left, 8 reps right
5. Renegade Lunges - 10 reps
6. Kettlebell High Pull  - 20 reps (WOW!)
7. One-leg Deadlift - 10 reps left, 10 reps right
8. One-arm Rows - 10 reps left, 10 reps right

REPEAT!

Then I did a bit of ab work - 20 rolling kettlebell situps, 15 kettlebell situps, 20 rolling kettlebell situps.

BOOM.

I'd never done the Kettlebell High Pull before.  I will probably be feeling that workout tomorrow. My shoulder is already feeling it.  Yikes.  I better go get my foam roller and pray for the best.

Read more »